"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.

The art of customer management

December 5, 2017 (SSB) — Last week I walked myself to downtown (Kampala City Center) – to my usual boutique where I have been buying clothes for the last three years since I become a resident in this country. Christmas is coming in soon and I need few some clothes to cover myself since I have been investing my mergers on other things. Unfortunately, I found the place was under a new management, and the people I found there were dealing only ladies outfits.

Before shifting, I have known some few faces: two gentlemen that I have been interacting; they both speak Swahili and one lady who happened to be an alumna of the college. In the process, I have been very reluctant to ask their names and business contacts and applied the ideology that customer is the king. I have been assuming in fact that it is the sole responsibility of the seller to attract customers in all ways possible.

Be it through lying, being polite, or using persuasive language to woe their attention. This is the law applies to marketing and everyone that deals in sales must abide by it. So how could they shift to another plaza without leaving behind any note to ensure that they have moved to another building and we (the loyal customers) can follow them?

In marketing, taking customer as kings these days is not the solution to maintaining customers; digging deeper, for example, having their contacts for those very close customers who always buy from you, knowing them by names, and having easy interaction with them is quite healthy to one’s own business. Trust and respect will always be awarded to those who attach themselves to customers.

I asked the new sellers in the stall where the previous tenants have shifted to because I had promised them to come back a week before and buy some few clothes. They were kind enough to tell me that they have moved to the next building – Qualisero Praza (Bantu accent), which actually meant Quality Sales Plaza. I moved to the building to search for them because they had what I wanted. I tried all I can, but my search was in vain.

As I was about to give up, I came to a shop where I found a gentleman. He was dealing only in T-shirts. His T-shirts were really nice. The language he approached me was really soothing and pleasing. Though I had planned to buy two with my “ex” sellers, I decided to buy three. This gentleman by the name Joseph, we interacted a lot. I bet I must pass by that place to soon.

In many occasions, customers tend to fear to put their interests first when they meet sellers for the first time. Reason being that some sellers or bosses always carry goofy faces and customers fail to understand them in the first place. In contrast to my ex-sellers and Joseph, he outwitted these other people I have encountered; and if I was to do any ranking, I would propose Joseph as the accolade of the year 2017.

However, this doesn’t just go only to the people who deal in buying and selling products and services, but also to office managers, teachers to students, carpenters to their junior workmates, studio owners, radio stations, newspapers, TV stations, name them all. All these are not exceptional in this situation. Anyone who feels him/herself as a boss has no right to look down on his/her juniors.

Workers are fragile customers within and when they are not satisfied with the management, they can easily leave the organization, gossip about you the boss, or failing to handle the external customers the way it’s supposed to be.

In that case, external customers will turn their back on you (the top management) and defect to your very own competitors. What do you think will happen? The organizational performance will shrink of course.

A customer, in this case, doesn’t necessarily mean a buyer, anyone that is so beneficial to you; people who will always be there for us and will always sacrifice their time for our own sakes are the customers. Be it your friends, relatives, your wife or husband, workmates, or teachers are the customers we need in life.

These people define our destinies or success in our lives. They contribute a bigger percentage to our lives and that is why, if anyone doesn’t know how to keep them happy, then s/he must buy a book and read on how to maintain customer management.

Zack Maul is a third-year student taking Bachelor of Science in Marketing. He can be reached both on Twitter and Facebook on Zack Maul or email address: zack mayul <zackmayul54@gmail.com>

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